RoobiFood

2007 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC
202.797.7171
www.marvindc.com 

Marvin is located in the historic Shaw neighborhood of DC.  This vibrant and eclectic part of town is home to a plethora of dining options, both old and new a-like. A growing trend is Belgian style cafes, and Marvin is true to form. Combining a lounge, restaurant and roof-top bar, Marvin has something for everyone.

On a relatively busy Sunday night, I was happy that our wait for a table wasnt longer than about 10 minutes — even though the dining room probably only seats about 30 tables.  Our waiter was dressed casually, in fitting with the desired ambiance.

Drinks for the evening included absolute mandarin & sprite — which was heavy on the absolute.  For our apps, we selected the onion soup gratinee & the seared sea scallops w/ braised leeks & beurre rouge – both of which were fantastic.  The onion soup was appropriately covered in Gruyere, with large slices of red and sweet onions throughout.  I believe the bread inside wasn’t french or Italian, but the same home-style loaf they serve prior to the meal itself (which was quite good).

The sea scallops were cooked to perfection – a rarity Ive unfortunately discovered.  They were definitely fresh, and received accolades from all around the table.  My only complaint would be the skimpy portion of garnish that came with them.  While I realize that the scallops were meant to be the main attraction, the garnish was so sparcely provided that it was almost non-existent.

The two entrees that I was able to sample were; the apple wood bacon, leeks, & ale moules frites and the country fried chicken & Waffles w/ Free-range chicken and collard greens.  The muscles were diving – fresh, gigantic, full of flavor and large in portion size.  It is hard to be “full” off of muscles, because in general, you never get enough of them.  But, even without the fries, the muscles are a meal in and of themselves.  Add to that the home-style fries, complete with wasabi, spicy mustard and ketchup dipping sauces, and you are in for a treat.  Best of all, the shell bowl was promptly and frequently cleared, so there was never an unsightly pile of empty shells litering the table.

The chicken dish was equally as impressive.  It was bright and crispy on the outside (without oozing oil or grease) and tender and juicy on the inside.  My expectations were fairly low, considering this dish usually ends up a bit dry, but I was pleasently surprised.  I was slightly disappointed with the waffle — it was on the small side and became quite soggy sitting atop the collard greens, which also did little to enhance the dish. The syrup dipping sauce was quite unnecessary, but provided an interesting kick on every seventh bite.

For dessert, I shared the profiteroles w/vanilla ice cream served in the middle.  Id say this was likely the lowest point of the meal for me, as the profiteroles were quite dry.  But, everything was topped with dollops of real hot fudge, so that definetely helped redeem the dish a bit.

Finally, the service is worthy of high praise.  I mentioned th expediency with which muscle bowls were cleared earlier, but throughout the evening little gestures that seem to have fallen by the way-side at other establishments were not forgotten at Marvins.  Most notable; as we were getting ready to leave, our waiter stopped by and wish us a pleasent day tomorrow, week ahead and life in general.  It was an excellent way to end our evening, thoroughly impressed and anticipating a return visit

14K Restaurant
1001 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-218-7575
14K website

14K Restaurant is located on the Northwestern corner of Franklin Park in Washington, DC – just a block North of the McPherson Square metro at 14th and K st., perfectly situated between where I works and how I gets home. So it should be no surprise that my first and only (so far) visit was for a happy hour… thus making it difficult to give a full review, but enough to describe the highlights of a “quickie”.

The girls in our group made it to the bar first and ordered Coconut Mohitos, so being a fan of the old school Mohito myself I decided to try the new fangled version… it was delish. 14K makes them a bit weak and they’re served in your typical short-stack 8 ball glass, so for $9 I wouldn’t call it a bargain, but it’s definitely refreshing on a hot day. As happens with most Mohitos I end up choking on the mint at the bottom of the glass – the higher class the Mohito the finer the mint – and this one was pretty fine if-you-know-what-im-sayin.

Some people ordered the Calamari (one of my favorites which I should have tried but didn’t), and others (like me) went for the mini-burgers. The mini-burgers actually looked pretty silly, served with green olives and cherry tomatoes pierced by the skewer-sword on top – the green olive was almost as big as the burger itself (el-o-el). The buns were wheat and slightly toasted with a flavorful, hint of garlic, patty. One of my coworkers pointed out the 3 gallons of mustard sauce it was served with, which was definitely overkill, but very tasty. I ended up swiping the burger tops in the sweet mustard sauce and only used maybe a spoonful.

I’ll definitely be back (not too far after a payday) to try out an actual meal – but I can say for now, 14K is an excellent place for a slightly higher class happy hour.

901 N Glebe Rd
Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 527-0955

…the result is often delicious. Though I typically try to shy away from chain restaurants, once in a while someone manages to break the mold. I have consistently found my meals at PF Changs both enjoyable, and satisfying (from a cost perspective).

Now, I know what you are thinking — and if you’ve never been of a PF Changs, you simply wont understand. But, I assure you, the recipes used are actually somewhat authentic! Having dated someone who was born and raised until the age of 17 in China, I can assure you that this is true. Having said that, there are some traditionally dishes that are presented with PF Changs unique flare — and the result is quite tasty.

On this particular outing we started with the Harvest Spring Rolls & a bowl of Hot & Sour soup. The spring rolls were disappointing in size only — they were probably half the size of a cigar, but slightly plumper. You have the choice of two or four, and not knowing their size, we mistakenly chose 2. They were crispy on the outside, without being laden with grease. The filling was standard sliced vegetables, but the dipping sauce was the real hero. Sweet, tangy & somewhat spicy, the dipping sauce was a trip down taste bud lane. The soup was comprised of “chicken, bean curd, bamboo shoots and wood ear mushrooms, sparked with hot white pepper and vinegar” — and was blended surprisingly well. No one ingredient overpowered the other. And for once, it was NOT too salty!

I chose an entree that I have had before, the Double Pan Fried Noodles. Essentially, they take thin egg noodles and fry them twice with some vegetables and your choice of meats. I chose the combo, which came with chicken, pork, beef and shrimp. The size of the shrimp was disappointing, but I was impressed with how well the meats were cooked. Too often in a stir fried dish, the meat ends up entirely too dry. As for taste, the most noticeable sensation was sweetness. Honestly, I could have done without so much flavor — it was too much.

The other entree I had the pleasure of consuming was the Chengdu Spiced Lamb. This dish is “Richly spiced marinated lamb, wok-caramelized then tossed with cumin, mint, tomatoes and yellow onions.” The lamb was well seasoned, but was relatively lackluster in terms of supporting cast. Some might consider this a good thing, but I felt that there was almost too much lamb, and not enough of everything else. Also, the meat was cooked OK — it wasn’t incredibly tender, but it wasn’t completely overdone.

No dessert this time, but I will leave you with some final thoughts on the service. The DC metro area (as well as many others) are absolutely notorious for terrible service. However, my service last night was as impeccable as any I have ever received at a chain restaurant. Drinks were refilled without needing to be asked, plates were cleared with lightning like quickness, the check wasn’t delivered until we were completely done, and so forth. It was a very refreshing change of pace, and to think, it was at a chain restaurant that serves the type of food pandered by corner variety fast-food type places all across America!

So, in closing, I suppose the moral of the story is that you should never count trying a restaurant just because its a ‘chain.’ You never know, you might be pleasantly surprised!

4316 Markham St
Annandale, VA 22003
(703) 813-8181

A&J Restaurant is a fantastic find tucked away in the midst of Annandale. Alas, the photo I took with my phone is somewhat sub-par. What I was attempting to showcase was the seven awards A&J has won from the Washington Post regarding being a “best bargain/value restaurant.”

True to the title, you will be hard pressed to find anything on A&J’s menu above $5.95. However, just because the food is ‘cheap’ doesn’t mean that is not fantastic. The menu items are fairly authentic (which is why the clientèle is mostly Asian) and everything is prepared to order.

Standard operating procedure is to order several small dishes and dine ‘family style.’ Today’s selection included a few of my favorites: dan dan noodle, beef tendon w/ thin noodles, steamed beef dumplings, smoked chicken, & fried bread stick (NOT the kind of breadstick you’d get from the Olive Garden).

Today we arrived around 1:15, so there wasn’t much of a wait (5 – 10 minutes). Had we arrived close to 11 or noon, wed have probably been behind about 7 or 8 groups. Still, the place was full, and as is sometimes the case a few of our dishes arrived luke warm. My Dan Dan was one of those dishes, but it was still pretty good. Portion size is surprisingly filling given the price, and although the spicy peanut sauce doesn’t initially bring a lot of heat, by the end of the bowl you’ll be reaching for whatever liquid is closest. You have your choice of thin or wide noodles, and I almost always go for the wide.

The smoked chicken was interesting. Again, it arrived a little cooler than I would have preferred, but it was flavorful even when removing the fat lined skin. Be careful of small bones, and plan on garnishing with soy or hot sauce. The smoky flavor is subtle yet noticeable but doesn’t do enough to eat the chicken by itself (unless you like your food plain).

Beef tendon soup inst something I particularly like, at least not the beef tendon part. The broth is quite delicious, and isn’t too salty. Its clearly made from scratch. The tendons are good for what they are, someone who really loves them thinks they are fantastic.

That leaves me with the bread stick and the steamed beef dumplings. The dumplings take the longest to arrive at the table (about 20 minutes) and are great. Priced at $2.95, the four dumplings you receive are steamed to perfection — the beef ball inside is tasty and piping hot. The wrappers are some of the best I have ever had. The bread stick is incredibly flaky and deep fried. Dipped in the broth of the beef tendon soup, they make for a delicious carb in a rice-less meal.

To sum things up, given you arrive at just the right time, and don’t mind half your meal being luke warm (plus a relatively UN-friendly wait staff), A&J is an extremely cheap, incredibly tasty way to spend a Saturday afternoon.